Running From The Past
by infinity-love
Summary: Rose is a Strigoi. The base she runs is attacked one night and everyone there is killed. Rose manages to run away, but is being chased by Dimitri. She goes to find what she left when she was awakened. What will she do when she finds it's not the same?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, anyone who reads this :) basically this chapter is just a test. If I get good reviews on this chapter I'll start updating as regularly as I can. If I get like 2 good reviews then I'll take this down and improve the story. I have a few chapters already written out and at the rate I'm writing it won't take long for me to have a whole story written out! **

**So please, if you like this short prologue thing then review :D**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, but I don't own any of the characters apart from Jason and one I haven't thought of a name for yet. They all belong to Richelle Mead  
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><p>"Boss, we found the traitor. What would you like me to do with it?" my second in command, Nathan, said.<p>

"Hmm...I don't know. Male or female?" I replied. It wouldn't make a difference on how I would kill the bastard, but a girl has needs. Needs that can only be satisfied by the opposite sex.

"Male."

"Bring him in," I watched as Nathan went outside, said something to the guards and then came back into my office.

"Will it be the usual procedure?"

"Yes. You know the drill. Alert the centre. You know what happens to anyone who will disturb me during the coming hours," I felt my eyes darken and a slightly worried look crossed Nathan's face. "Can't control your new men?" I teased.

"Of course I can, Ma'am, it's just we have visitors soon, and I don't think they'll like waiting-" Nathan's words were cut off by sounds of a scuffle outside.

"Tough on them, then. They should have come earlier. Right now I have business to attend to. Leave me and bring it in, I'm hungry," Nathan nodded at me and went outside to bring the man in. Yes, by the way, I refer to traitors as an 'it'.

"Boss, here it is," Nathan said before I heard the door shut softly as he left me and the traitor alone in my office.

"Who do you work for?" my voice was low and deadly as I inspected my pen closely.

"I don't know their names," a Russian accented voice replied.

"Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit," I said in a sing-song voice. "I wasn't born yesterday. So tell me...who. Do. You. Work. For?"

"I. Don't. Know. I never worked directly with them. It's not my job."

"Of course not. You just pretend to be working for someone when actually you're just worming the company and getting info so you can shut said company down. Well, it might have worked in other places, but, buddy, you ain't in an amateur business. I'm Rose Hathaway, and I do things properly. You just fucked with the wrong woman," at this point I looked up into the traitor's eyes. I saw him shudder - it alwayas happened, and a smug grin always spread across my face when it did. My eyes are red, due to my living status - Strigoi. For some reason mine are more of a vivid and bright red. In the Strigoi world I'm sometimes known as the Girl With The Blood Eyes. "What's your name?"

"D-D-Dimitri," he stammered and I laughed. All the confidence swept out from under people's feet when they saw my eyes. I like to say it's also my captivating beauty, but that makes me sound vain. Don't get me wrong, I know how great I look, I just don't have to marvel at myself everytime I pass a mirror.

"Well, Dimitri, I have a night of fun lined up. Fun for me, of course. If you're good I might repay the favour of all the good work you _did_ do for me, but at this point in time I'm hungry, and can't stop staring at your neck. Relax, this will only hurt if you resist it. It could be _so good_ if you embrace it. So relax..."


	2. Chapter 2

**As I proof read the last chapter again I realised there isn't much going on really and this chapter gives you more of an insight into the story, so this is chapter 2!**

**Please review, too. I know you'll have taken some out of your valuable time to read this story and even more to review, so I'm just thankful if anyone reads it! Even if you don't like the story, review :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of VA, it all belongs to Richelle Mead**

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><p>As I licked my lips when I pulled away from Dimitri's neck I thought about how good he tasted. Usually the traitors I tasted (drained) tasted like crap. Not Dimitri. No, he tasted the sweetest I'd ever tasted. So much so, that I'd stopped just after he passed out. When I fed I drained. I'm not one of those 'savouring' Strigoi. I like to fill myself up for hours on end. While other Strigoi have to feed once every day, if I drain a human, I can be satisfied for two days minimum.<p>

I watched as Dimitri's limp head slumped to the side. Moving off him, I sat back in my chair and dialled Nathan's number on my office phone.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Change of plans. I want the guest room connecting to mine prepared for the traitor. He will be a guest for a short while, until he is gone, I want no man to touch him if I have not given an order or permission. If someone does the consequences will be so severe no man or woman will be able to look me in eye due to fear. Say those exact words to the men, Nathan. I want them to know I'm serious," I hung up the phone not waiting for Nathan's answer - I knew he'd do it anyway. It was no secret he used to love me. I say it past tense because Strigoi are not capable of emotions like love. He was one of my men's feeders, and accidently got turned. He loved me before he got turned, but when he was awakened he turned that love into loyalty. I would trust Nathan with almost everything.

I looked towards Dimitri. He was slumped in the chair, asleep. Sighing, I walked over to the door and called outside, "Someone get in here," within seconds of saying that a wiry Strigoi with dark brown hair appeared at my door. "Ah, Galina," she was the woman I went to if I ever wanted a secret deal doing. She could go under the radar, smack bang in the middle, or on top. Whichever way I needed it doing, she'd be the one to ask.

"Yes, Rose? What can I do?"

"I need you to carry this to my adjoining guest room. Do not drop him, and put him on the bed. Thanks," Galina went over to Dimitri and threw him over her shoulder.

"Of course, Boss," she left, and I had a chance to assess the situation. What had I done? Stopped feeding halfway through, was what I'd done.

If anyone got wind of that I'd lose some of my reputation. So how could I explain why I was keeping him?

The idea came to me after a few long minutes thinking. I would say I was torturing him everyday until he gave me the names of who he worked for. Yep, that would work for a while.

Sighing, I left my office, double locked it behind me - important files were in there - and made my way through the centre I run towards my living quarters. It consisted of a small kitchen, large living room and dining room, a room I used for feeding, a bathroom, my master bedroom and an en-suite, and an adjoining bedroom from the master bedroom.

When in my bedroom, I took my heels off, then my pencil skirt followed suit, and soon after that came my brown layered top. I got into my pyjamas and sat on my bed. The box I always looked in at night was still in the same place, under my bed. I retrieved it and lifted the lid. Taking the first picture out I knew that, if I could, I would be crying right now. The second and third pictures had me in the same state. It wasn't till the fourth till I started to channel that sorrow into anger - the thing I'm best at doing with emotions.

I ran to the wall between my room and punched it with all my strength. My fist came back with pieces of plaster and brink all over it.

Once over my small surge of anger I returned to my bed, where I looked down upon the pictures of the unborn child I had lost when I was awakened.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey people :) another chapter here. Thanks to those who reviewed, you made my day :D hope you enjoy this one**

**Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of VA, just Jason and the one with no name yet :)  
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><p>My life before I was awakened was far from perfect, but it worked for me. I was pregnant with my long-term boyfriend's baby, had a best-friend who was always there for me, and one big dis+functional family that, although they had differences with each other, all loved me.<p>

Then, one night I was walking home from my college and, like in every horror film, a guy was hiding in the shadows of a dark alley. Typical, but hey, I wasn't expecting it. I'd felt his lips at my neck, then pain, then nothing. When I woke up, in a strange room, I noticed my stomach was flat - my baby had gone. To this day I don't know what happened to my unborn child. For a time I did some research but came up with nothing. I couldn't even ask my maker about it, because he had left me in the alley. A group of Strigoi had smelt the blood, seen I'd already been bitten and was changing, and decided to take me in. That group were nomads, and taught me all the basics of being a Strigoi.

"Boss?" I was being shaken awake by Nathan.

"What? What is it?" I asked grogily.

"We're being raded!" Nathan's voice was quick, urgent. My eyes snapped open and I shot up out of bed. "Don't go out there, Rose! It's a masacre! They brought hundreds of Dhampir! We can't beat them!"

I ran the possibilities through my head. The part of me that was run by the instinct to survive was telling me to get the fuck out of here, but the part of me run by my duties told me to go out there and fight with my men or die trying. I decided to go with the survival instinct.

"Ok, we'll leave," I said but instead of heading towards the window I ran to the room where Dimitri was being held. Only when I looked in it wasn't just Dimitri in there - a big group of Dhampirs were standing around Dimitri who was giving out fight instructions.

"Shit!" I quickly backed out of the room and locked the door then turned to Nathan. "That stupid bastard! Come on, we're getting the fuck out of here."

I set off towards the window with Nathan my heels, watching behind us at the two doors hiding the danger.

Just as I jumped out of the window I heard the doors open and heavy footsteps on the floor. With my good hearing, I heard Nathan shout to me, "Rose! Run!"

"No!" I climbed the wall up and looked back into the window - Nathan was on his own with Dimitri. His movements were slow, and he was going to lose. He didn't say any more words to me. The last thing he did before Dimitri staked him was turn around to look at me climbing through the window. His eyes were full of such love I thought I'd explode. Nathan spread his arms wide like an angel and tiilted his head back. With his blond hair and smooth face I could almost believe he was actually an angel. The perfect illusion was shattered when the tip of Dimitri's silver stake poked out from Nathan's chest. The look of love in his eyes vanished and his body went limp.

Dimitri wasted no time in charging at me next. I hadn't even gotten through the window yet, so all I had to do to excape was let myself fall. I ran to the garage as soon as my feet hit the ground outside. Luckily I always kept the keys to my favourite car on my person so I pressed the unlock button and jumped inside the car. It was a black Asto Martin DB9 and I loved it. The sleekness never failed to capture my eye.

I sped out of the garage and through the main gates to the base. Checking my rear-view mirror I saw Dimitri staring after the car. He had a steely glint in his eyes that I didn't like one bit, but a few seconds later I was too far away to see it anymore, and the whole of Dimitri's body was immersed in blackness.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. As I drove through the woods surrounding the base I had a chance to think of what I could do.

I could report to my hierarchy, but what's the fun and point of that? I would do whatever the hell I liked. I was free. My mind wandered back to my family before I was awakened. I never had gotten over never seeing my boyfriend, Adrian, again, and in thinking about him I unwillingly thought about our baby. And I was one month away from my due date. At eight months a baby can feel pain. My heart clenched every time I thought of how it must have hurt whatever happened to my little angel.

I had to see Adrian. Even if it was from afar, I just had to get closure, and this was the way about it. I would start looking for him at our old house, and if he wasn't there I'd have to utilise my many connections in the Strigoi world. I would drive all night until I got to a motel that I could stop at before sunrise, and then I'd drive all tomorrow night, too. I had a whole state to cross.

Driving all night was fine tonight because I'd fed from Dimitri earlier but I knew I'd have to feed tomorrow night at some point to keep myself going. At 4:30 a.m. I found a motel to stay in. Usually I would risk it and go on for a short while longer but I was in a remote part of the state and I knew for a fact that the next motel after this one was nearly 30 miles away in which time the sun will have risen. I parked up, put my dark pair of sunglasses on and went into the reception area where a girl no more than twenty sat, looking very bored.

"Hi, can I get a room for today?" I asked her.

"Sure. You on a night schedule?" she began typing things into the computer.

"Yeah. I work nights," I said.

"For one night , day in this case, it'll be $35. How do you do that? I mean, wasn't it weird at first? Getting used to the sleep times?" I handed her the cash and she got my room key ready.

"Not really, I never really had a sleep pattern even when I was hu-" I stopped myself just in time from saying 'when I was human'. Luckily the girl didn't notice and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"That's lucky. I've been at this job for almost a year and I'm still tired as hell most of the time," she gave me my room key and I took it then glanced outside. I could see the beginings of the sun's light show on the horizon.

"It was nice talking to you, but if you'll excuse me," I motioned upstairs, showing her I wanted to go to my room.

"Oh, yeah, sure. You were the nicest person to check in for ages. They're usually all drunks or criminals. We get a lot of shit here."

"Yeah but you look pretty tough. I bet they don't bug you. Anyway, have a nice day," I waved at the girl and she waved back as I took the stairs up to the top floor.

The room was average looking, cream walls, red bed-spread, red carpet, the usual. I went straight to the window and shut the curtains to be safe. I wouldn't be sleeping in the bedroom. No, the bathroom was calling to me. Luckily the bath tub was a reasonable size and I could fit in it. Let me explain why I was sleeping in the bathroom - there were no windows in there, so it's safer. The curtains in motels were the cheap and shit kind and I did not trust them along with that duvet.

I grabbed all the bedding but the sheets, and Hauled them into the bath. I made myself comfy in there and let my eyes drop. I fell asleep pretty quickly.

**DPOV**

Did that Strigoi really think us Dhampirs were stupid enough to just let her drive away like that? No, there was a reason we didn't have people in the garage - we put trackers on all the vehicles and hoped that at least one Strigoi would break off and drive away. That Strigoi would hopefully lead us to another group of them. That's how this group of us work. We get into a Strigoi nest, bug the cars, and wait for one of the monsters to take us to another nest.

"Belikov, it's stopped," one of my team, Ivan, said, while looking at the tracking monitors. I walked over to him and looked over his shoulder at the screen with the blinking black dot on it.

"Where is that?" I tapped the screen where the dot was.

"Um...about twenty miles away. Should we go now?"

"No, that place looks like a motel. I don't think a nest would be at a motel. It wouldn't be logical," so we would have to wait until the Strigoi moved onto an actual nest.

"Should we follow her? Get on high alert when it gives us a lead, you know?"

"Yeah, good idea. Come on, guys, get ready to move out!" I addressed the rest of my team. They all sprung into action. There were nine teams of Dhampirs that did this whole raiding thing. All nine teams came to this raid because it was a fully established Strigoi base. Until we found the next base the teams would each go back to court or, as my team were doing, catch onto a rogue Strigoi and track them until it led us to a nest.

I heard laughter coming down the corridor and decided to investigate. There was a group of men surrounding a chest of drawers in the head Strigoi's room. I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed over my chest and cleared my throat. The men turned round with wide eyes.

"What are you doing?" they all shuffled round slightly to hide the front of the drawers.

"Guys?" I warned.

"Um...we found the...'delicates' drawer," one of the guys said.

"What?"

"It has...lingerie in it," he clarified and held up a very, very skimpy pair of black panties and bra lace set. I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, I'm sure that if that drawer is full of items like that there's no need to fight over who gets what set because that drawer sure looks big enough for all of you to get a pair," I heard Ivan chuckle behind me and all the men standing in the room blushed and started talking about just looking for evidence and stuff. Me and Ivan walked back to the room we were in before and started packing up all our equipment.

We were interrupted by the newest recruitments to our team, two guys called Mason and Eddie. Mason was carrying a closed box.

"Hey, Sir?" Eddie said to me.

"Yeah?" I stood up from where I was kneeling.

"We found this box," Mason held out the shoe box and I took it from him. I lifted and put aside the lid. Inside were numerous pictures of ultra-sound scans, pictures of a guy with green eyes and brown hair hugging the Strigoi who locked me up and fed off me, except she looked as though she was either Dhampir of human in all the photos. "We saw the scan phtos and wondered if there was anyone being held hostage here. Maybe a surrogate for the strigoi?"

"That sounds possible, but the lady in these pictures is Strigoi now, whereas she isn't in these photos. Now maybe she just put the pictures in one box, except there isn't a hostage being held here, nor any baby items, and not any written evidence of a surrogate mother or a hostage. Thanks guys, though," they knew that was their dissmissal and went back to search the base. I turned to Ivan. "I think we should find this man," I pointed to the guy with the green eyes in the pictures. "If the woman had a connection before she was awakened maybe she'll go back to him. Find out who he is," Ivan began typing away on the computer he hadn't yet packed away and I went to look in the rooms nobody had checked yet.

There was nothing in any of the rooms left, so I went back to Ivan and to check on his progress.

"How's it going? Any luck?" I asked him.

"Yeah, the guy is Adrian Ivashkov. He's a Moroi and he lives in the next state with his son, Jason, who is three years old. Adrian is engaged to a human called Sydney Sage. They met one year ago and are expecting their first child together, biolically. She's not the mother of his first child, Rosemarie Hathaway is," Ivan said. A sudden brainwave hit me. I ran to the shoe box I'd put down a short while ago and picked up one of the pictures of the ultra-sound scan. The year was dated three years ago. Pieces clicked in my mind.

"Shit! Get this stuff packed up _now_! We'll be leaving here in twenty minutes. Move!" I said to Ivan hurriedly. I grabbed my walkie-talkie and spoke into it, "All units in Team 3 prepare to vacate the building. We rendezvous at the front gates in twenty minutes. If you aren't there we leave without you," I said. Ivan looked at me whilst packing the computers away.

"What's going on?" he asked me.

"I think the Strigoi we're following is going to see this guy and her kid. It's hers, Ivan. She's Rosemarie Hathaway, and I think she might kill them - or worse, awaken them. We need to get there quick and warn them. Hathaway will have to have stopped by now and if we travel throughout the day we can get there to warn the family. We don't need all the units but I still want to take them," I picked up a few bags of stuff and carried them out to the black SUV's we have.

Twenty minutes later all my men were by the front gates, I'd informed most of them in on the situation, and everyone was belted up in their assigned SUV. It was me, Ivan, Eddie, Mason, Christian and Mikhail in ours. I was driving.


	4. Chapter 4

**I know it's been so so so long and I'm sorry. It's all explained on my profile, I don't feel like typing it out again. Long story short, I'm carrying this story on, not sure where it's going though. We'll see! **

**Just keep in mind that it's been months since I wrote the rest of the story. I have re-read it, but if something doesn't match with the previous chapters, please tell me and I can fix it for the next chapters.**

**Finally, if you're coming back to this story after waiting all this time for an UD and you've been with it from the start, I cannot thank you enough for coming back, it really means a lot! And thanks to any new readers too! I won't be happy till I complete this story, so it'll definitely keep going for a bit.**

**Disclaimer: characters all belong to Richelle Mead, the plot of this story was my idea though**

Infinity x

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><p><strong>DPOV<strong>

We finally pulled up outside a small white house. It had taken us several hours to drive and a few driver-swaps.

"Guys, wake up, we're at Ivashkov's house," they all started to move and stretch their muscles out after sitting for hours.

Ivan looked round. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"I sent them to an abandoned warehouse that's our new safe house. The address has been sent to your phones in case of an emergency. Ok, the plan is to talk to Mr. Ivashkov, ask him what he knows, explain the current situation and suggest ways to overcome it. I will be going inside along with Ivan and Eddie. The rest of you will wait for my word over the radio's for the ok to set up a temporary watch over the perimeter until we decide on a plan for Ivashkov and his family."

The guys all nodded.

"Alright then, let's move," I said to Ivan and Eddie. We stepped out the SUV and up the garden path to the front door. I stood at the front with Eddie and Ivan behind me. I knocked and we waited, holding our breath, wondering if we were too late. You could hear each of us exhale once a heavily pregnant human woman opened the door.

"Yes? Can I help you?" she asked in a chirpy voice.

"Excuse me miss, are you Sydney Sage?" I asked her and watched her face turn serious.

"Yes. Who's asking?"

"My name is Dimitri Belikov and these are my colleagues, Eddie Castille and Ivan Somovitch. We're here to see Adrian Ivashkov, is he here?"

"Where are you from? Who do you work for?" I tried not to flinch as I suddenly had a flashback of when I was in the Strigoi's head office and it was questioning me.

"We started from Court. We are part of a team in the Guardian Ranks that carry out raids on Strigoi," I decided it was better to tell her as much as I could without revealing why I was here specifically.

She went pale. "This is about Rosemarie, isn't it?"

We couldn't waste any more time. "Please, if we could speak with Mr Ivashkov first."

"Of course, sorry. Come in," she stepped aside and we went in. "If you wait through there for him. Take a seat," she gestured through to the living room where there were 2 couches facing each other. I sat on one while Eddie stood by a window, keeping watch, and Ivan stood by the door, also keeping watch.

We didn't have to wait long before a tall Moroi man came into the room. I stood up.

"Adrian Ivashkov?" I asked.

He nodded. "That's me."

"My name is Dimitri Belikov, that's Ivan and that's Eddie. We're here to talk to you about Rosemarie Hathaway."

"Rose? What about her?" his voice was sharp but I could detect a hint of hurt under the sharpness.

"Are you aware she was made a Strigoi just over three years ago?"

"What? A Strigoi?" as my words went through his head, his knees gave way and he collapsed back onto the sofa, eyes wide in shock.

"Our understanding is that you and Rosemarie had a child together."

"Yeah, except, well - it's more complicated than that."

"How so?"

"Rose only got to her 8th month of pregnancy before she went missing - or rather, turned Strigoi. I don't know what happened but one day I came home to find a baby on my doorstep, wrapped in a sheet. It was still covered in blood and gunk. Someone had written on the sheet, 'Ivashkov, you have a son'. That's it. I did DNA tests and he is mine and Rose's child. It always troubled me, not knowing what happened to Rose. It was obvious Jason had literally just been taken out of her because he was still crying and covered in blood."

"Mr Ivashkov, has Rosemarie tried to make any contact with you in the last three years?" I think I knew the answer but had to ask it anyway.

"No, not at all. When I met Sydney, we moved halfway across America. We have almost no connection to my old life."

"Almost?"

"We still have contact with a few friends of mine from I was with Rose."

"Is it ok if I take their details down?"

"Sure, do you want them now?"

"Not yet, there's something I have to explain," Adrian settled back into the couch and I took a deep breath before starting. "A couple of days ago we conducted a raid on a Strigoi base. Rosemarie was in charge there. We tried to get her but she got away in one of the cars. We tracked it to a motel about 70 miles away from here."

Worry made his face crease up. "So what does this mean?"

"Well, we don't know exactly what she wants, but after doing our background research, we know that Jason is Rosemarie's son."

"And how is that relevant?"

I glanced up at Ivan quickly. "Our guess is that she never met him. This might be wrong, but we're currently working on the assumption that she'll come back for Jason or you. Most likely for revenge purposes," shock crossed Adrian's face and I felt bad for him. How scary must this be, especially when Sydney is in the condition she is. I just hoped Rosemarie wouldn't do anything to Adrian's next baby.

"What's going to happen now?"

"I would suggest removing you and your family from the area, count on Rosemarie coming here to find you, and stake her when she gets here."

Silence filled the room. I hoped that would be the right thing to do - it would get the family into safety and that's the main thing. We could chase the damn Strigoi across states but we'd still be faster because we aren't limited to night time hours.

"I know where we'll go."

"Oh?"

"Court. It's protected and I have some friends there."

"I'll arrange for some Guardians to escort you there. We don't want to risk anything."

"Ok, thank you, Guardian Belikov. I really appreciate you telling me all this. Will you tell me when you stake her? I'd...I'd also like to see the body. I haven't seen her in three years and I think I need that closure," I couldn't blame him. Rosemarie disappeared in strange circumstances and it was only natural for Adrian to want a final goodbye.

I spoke softly to him. "Of course. It would be ideal for you to leave as soon as possible but we'll give you time. My team of Guardians will set up a watch near the house. We'll still give you privacy, of course."

"Thank you. Listen, can I get you and your guys anything? Coffee? It sounds like you haven't had proper stuff in a while, Strigoi hunting and all."

I smiled at him and saw Eddie and Ivan doing the same. "That would be great, thanks."

"Why don't you go count up, see how many mugs we need and I'll go tell Sydney the arrangements."

We left him to his fiancé and went outside to count up. The watch set up outside could handle the protecting for now.

"Ivan, sort it out. I'm going to see where that Strigoi is holed up. It's nearly dark and I want to keep tabs on it."

He nodded and started speaking to all the team through the radios. "Boss, you want some coffee?" he asked me. I couldn't hide my flinch this time as I was reminded of the male Strigoi addressing Rosemarie as 'Boss'. Right before he left me with her so she could feed off me. I shuddered and made sure my hair was still lose round my neck, hiding the bite marks she'd given me.

I checked the tracker and saw the car was still there, not that I thought it would be anywhere else since she can't move in daylight hours, but still. This Strigoi was not going to get past us.

**APOV**

"Syd? Did you hear me?" I asked her, putting my hand on her cheek to turn her face to mine.

"Yeah," her voice was soft, quiet.

"Don't be scared, please. I'll look after us all."

"I'm not scared about that. I just don't want to move this late in the pregnancy. I've got less than 4 weeks till my due date and I have a feeling this baby's going to come early," she stroked her stomach gently and I placed my hand over hers.

"I promise you, we'll have this sorted by the time the baby comes. We'll go to Court and stay with Lissa," I sighed heavily. "I remember her saying something about Strigoi and Spirit the last time we talked and I'd like to see what she says. You never know, it might be a cure," I joked.

"Fine, we'll go see Lissa. Go ring her now. I've made the coffee in the pot, ready, but it's time to go pick Jason up from his friend's. I'll see you in a bit," she picked the car keys off the sideboard and was nearly out the door when I called her name. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Can you ask one of the Guardians to go with you? I don't feel comfortable with you going alone," I pleaded to her.

"Oh, Adrian. I love you, you sweet, sweet man. I'll ask, yes," she quickly pecked me on the lips and walked out the door. I watched as she talked to Belikov, the leader of the group and he nodded and called a guy with blond hair over and introduced him to Sydney. Eddie, I think his name was.

Once I saw Sydney and the Guardian were in the car and driving away I got my cell and dialled a number I hadn't dialled in weeks.

"Adrian? I thought you'd disappeared off the face of the earth!" Lissa's melodic voice sounded through the speaker. I chuckled.

"Hey, Liss. How's it going?" the only reason I was close to her is because her and Rose had been best friends, nothing could keep them apart. They'd had a bond, but it was broken when Rose was shot at the Academy her and Lissa went to, by none other than Lissa's uncle, Victor Dashkov. Lissa hadn't healed Rose and she'd gotten better on her own, and the bond was broken. They were still thick as thieves, though. We were all good friend before Rose went missing but after she did, we all stayed friends, not just for support.

"Good. Me and Christian have good news!"

"Hold up, don't tell me yet - I have something to ask you."

"Go ahead."

I took a deep breath. "I was wondering if me, Sydney and Jason could stay with you for a little while?"

I could see the smile she'd be wearing as she spoke. "Adrian, you guys are welcome whenever you want! And for however long - well, within reason. You just want a holiday or something?"

"No," my voice lowered in volume and softened. "A group of Guardians...they've found Rose." Silence. "Lissa? Are you still there?"

"What did you say?" shock was evident in her voice.

"Rose, they've found Rose. It's not what you think though. She's Strigoi," I waited with baited breath for Lissa's response.

"That doesn't matter! Oh, thank God they've found her!"

"Whoa, whoa, what do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"I've been doing some research of Spirit for the past two years. I think I've found a way to restore Strigoi, and now we know Rose is Strigoi, I want to save her."


	5. Chapter 5

**I know it's short but I think this chapter ends in a good place for the next chapter. Sorry it's taken so long, too. I had 18 exams over 4 weeks and I was revising in that time so I didn't have time to write. I've finished now though, so I've got the rest of June and all of July and August to write! Hopefully I won't take ages to update again. Thank you so much if you stuck with this story, it really means a lot!**

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><p><span><strong>APOV<strong>

"Dad?" a small voice came from near my knees. I leaned down to Jason's level and smiled.

"Yeah, little man?" I asked him.

His big brown eyes looked up at me, round and innocent. "Why do we have to leave?"

A sigh left my lips. "It's not safe here. There's a bad person coming and if we leave now then Dimitri and his friend's can help that bad person become good. We'll come back when it's safe, I promise. Hey, maybe there'll be four of us when we come back. Chin up."

"Mr Ivashkov?" Dimitri's voice came from inside the house. He and his team had set up base there once he'd gotten mine and Sydney's permission. I ruffled Jason's hair and watched him shuffle to his step-mother then went inside.

"Any news?" I'd asked him to be kept updated with everything I could.

"No, she still hasn't moved. It's only just past sunset so I suspect she'll be getting ready to move right about now. I wanted to ask you if this was all ok. I know you haven't seen Rosemarie in over three years and as Guardian I feel like I should ask about your mental well-being. Is this going to be ok?"

"There is one thing I would like you to do, just to get closure. This whole ordeal was horrible three years ago and it's never really died down. Now that it's resurfaced I feel like a proper end to it all will help more than anything. I want you to keep Rose," I watched as that sank in. A denial of my request formed on Dimitri's lips and I jumped in before he could speak. "If you can, obviously. I know about the team you've got here and I know you're all more than capable of restraining and holding one Strigoi. Please. I really need this."

There was a long pause but I could see Dimitri considering the idea. "We'll do what we can. If she's too strong or too much of a threat then we have to out the safety of nearby humans, Moroi and Dhampirs first, you have to understand."

"I do. You won't need to though, I have total faith in you all," with that I waved goodbye to the rest of the Guardians and got into the driver's side of our family car. In the rear view mirror I saw Jason turn around and watch as the house disappeared from sight. Hopefully leaving now meant I could keep everyone I loved safe.

**RPOV**

I woke up a little before the sun had set but was forced to stay in my bathroom due to the sunlight. I spent the time going over memories that I'd kept remembering since I'd turned, so I didn't forget.

_"Adrian!" I heard a crash as he ran out of the kitchen to our bedroom, where I stood by the bed._

_"What? What is it?" the panic in his voice would have made me giggle but the situation stopped any humour. _

_I paused then almost shouted, "I'm pregnant!" he stood frozen for a few seconds. "Adrian?"_

_Pause. "We're having a baby?" I nodded. "We're going to be a family?" another nod. "Thank you!" he shouted too and ran to me. He threw his arms around my waist and lifted me. My own arms fell around his neck so I didn't fall backwards. The next few minutes were us laughing in joy and spinning and hugging. _

_This wasn't planned but now that everything seemed like it would work out, I wouldn't change it for the world. I just hoped this bliss would last forever._

Well that all went up in flames, a voice in my head remarked. I shook my head to clear it and checked my watch.

"After sunset, brilliant," I muttered to myself and threw the sheets off myself and out of the bath. It hadn't been too uncomfortable, considering. I flung the sheets on the unused bed and threw the curtains back. A black night sky, dotted with stars, had me smiling in anticipation. If I made good time I'd get to mine and Adrian's old house before sunrise.

I made it to outside the lobby before the slight tingling in my throat became more prominent. The stenches of alcohol and also blood filled the air and I felt my eyes turn one shade redder, showing how thirsty I was. The smells in the air were from a group of guys just getting back from an obvious night out. My eyes roamed over them all and I singled one out.

The shadows by the building provided perfect cover for when the group walked past but when my trailing target went past I stepped out. The dark shielded my eyes but my figure was still displayed. I thanked whatever was up there that my bed clothes passed as a skimpy outfit to humans, and not actual bed clothes.

"Hey, what's up?" he slurred at me, stopping behind his friends.

"My car broke down, can you come help me with it?" I made my voice lower and sexier while pushing out my chest slightly.

"Sure. Lead the way," confidence mixed with slurring made him sound a bit lame to my ears. Brave to his, probably. I smiled widely at him and walked to the back of the motel where the car park was. I stopped by a big pickup truck so anyone looking out the windows wouldn't see anything.

"How can I-" his words were cut off as I roughly grabbed his neck and sank my teeth into the soft flesh. It was like biting into marshmallow.

Blood dripped down from the guy's neck, drenching both of our clothes. I wasn't a clean drinker when I wasn't wearing nice clothes.

"Thanks for the help," I said as I released my hold on the guy's limp body. A buzz was working its way round my body due to the alcohol in his blood.

As I came out from behind the truck I glanced down at the bloody clothes I was now wearing. I'd have to find some new ones if I was going to be seen by Adrian at some point. Breaking into a motel room wasn't above me and it was easy anyway.

I found a nice blue dress in my size after searching through three rooms so slipped it on and ditched my shorts and top. My black pumps were still relatively clean so I kept them on.

This was all done within half an hour of sunset so I was on good time if I started driving now, which is exactly what I did.

As I drove things were going round and round in my mind.

Surely Adrian thought I was dead by now. Maybe he'd even forgotten about me. Maybe he'd even forgotten about our baby.

The sooner I found Adrian the better.


	6. Chapter 6

******This has taken a little while again but I really wanted to do this chapter justice and really be happy with it before I uploaded it. It's the chapter I've been waiting to write since I started this story so its an important one! I wrote it while listening to Yamaha by Delta Spirit which really helped me get the whole mood I was looking for in this chapter, so maybe listen to it while reading this? **

**I hope you enjoy this one, I can't tell you how excited I am to finally get this one done!**

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><p><span><strong>RPOV<strong>

Was it possible for time to be moving any slower? Ever since I entered the state I'd used to live in, every second seemed to last ten. The road stretched on forever and it made me think about what would happen at the end.

Mostly it made me think about why I hadn't gone looking for my baby sooner. I suppose I'd gotten caught up with all that I could do as a Strigoi. My memories never really came forward in my mind unless I wanted them to. It was both a blessing and a curse.

It was a blessing because the last few months of my mortal life were so close to perfect and I think I would have broken down, had I remembered those months more often. It was also a curse because it stopped me from doing what I should have - solving the mystery of how I was turned.

Fifty miles left which meant less than an hour, at the speed I was going. My body was getting jittery.

**DPOV**

"Belikov!" I heard my name shouted from the side of one of the SUVs. I jogged round to see what they wanted.

"Yes?" I looked at a couple of guys sitting close to a screen showing a red dot flash. It was moving. "What is that?"

"It's the Strigoi's car. It's about forty six miles away and it's going fast. If we're going to move the cars and all the gear then we need to do it quickly."

I looked up and considered this. The plan was to wait for the Strigoi to go inside the house and then corner it. Hopefully that way we'd be able to subdue it long enough to get some chains on it and restrain it.

"You're right. Pack this stuff up and we'll find a vantage point of surveillance," people started to move and equipment was put in cases and then in cars.

In no time the entire team were ready to leave the house so we did. It was important that we were careful about where we went and how visible we were because if the Strigoi caught our scent and followed it then we could be ambushed without having any warning.

We parked the cars behind a small hill about half a mile away from the house where we could easily keep an eye on the Strigoi's movements outside the house, see if it caught our scent and also where we could send the team I'd selected that would restrain the Strigoi.

Minutes passed slowly as all the guys I was with were silent and watching. Nobody wanted to distract anyone else. This was the make or break point.

I felt some of the men shift as a black car drove up the lane, towards the house.

**RPOV**

The house came into view and I swear that my heart skipped a beat. I took a deep breath and pulled up in front of the house.

It still looked so much like how I'd left it. White sliding on the outer walls with white windows. The door that was freshly painted blue was now peeling slightly. The porch had one of those swing chairs I'd always dreamt of sitting on with Adrian as our child ran around in the garden. I guess that would never happen now.

I stepped out of the car and walked slowly up to the porch. As I walked, I sniffed the air to see if there were any fresh scents going up to the house.

There were a few I didn't recognise but under all of those, Adrian's was there. I nearly cried with relief.

I ran up the steps and to the door. It was locked but I wasn't about to let that stop me. A little twist here, a little twist there and one final push was enough to force the door open.

I took another deep breath as I stepped into the house. It was the same as when I'd left it inside too. The sitting room to the left and the lounge to the right. The kitchen was at the end of the hallway with the door that led outside. The lights were all out, meaning the house was in darkness but that didn't mean a thing to my eyesight.

I walked into the sitting room first. The strangers scents were in there too but I found Adrian's on one of the sofas. I pressed my nose right into the cushion and inhaled his scent. God, I'd missed it. I looked around the room and my eyes landed on picture frames covering the top of the mantelpiece. I went closer to them. My eyes immediately landed on one of Adrian. He was standing on the porch with his elbows braced on the railings, smiling at something in the garden. The next picture had me frozen.

Adrian had his arm around a woman. She had just longer than shoulder-length light brown hair and a soft face. Looking a little closer and there was something shimmering on her cheek. The fact that Adrian had his arm around her in an intimate way had my heart breaking in two, but that wasn't what had stopped me altogether.

A young boy. If my eyes didn't deceive me, he couldn't have been older than three. What if he was my son? My eyes were wider than ever and whole body was shaking. I lifted my hand to the picture and my fingers brushed the image of the boy. The colour of his hair was like you'd mixed mine and Adrian's together, his eyes were a deep brown - the colour of mine before I was awakened.

So many emotions ran through me which was strange, because feeling one emotion is rare for a Strigoi, and feeling several? Unheard of. I'll blame it on the same reason as to why my eyes are red.

I could have a son. I thought I'd prepared myself for the most likely outcomes - this being one of them. Apparently I hadn't prepared enough.

I couldn't take my eyes off the boys face. He was definitely mine when you looked closer.

After this little revelation, my eyes were drawn back to Adrian and the woman. Who was she? It's been over three years so I should have expected him to move on and start a new life, but seeing it now had me crumbling inside, the fragments collecting on one string that was the boy you could be mine. That possibility was holding me together.

It was keeping my anger at bay which I was glad for. Once I let my anger loose, there's no stopping it. If my son was in this house I couldn't let anything hurt him, including myself.

That thought running through my brain had me pausing, listening for any heartbeats upstairs. Utter and complete silence.

_No_, my mind screamed. I needed to see my son in flesh. I raced out of the room and up the stairs using Strigoi speed. I burst into the master bedroom. The bed was stripped and it looked as though all the photo frames had been taken. I didn't stop to think but sped into one of the other bedrooms. It was totally empty. This couldn't be my boy's room so I tried the next door along.

Blue walls, blue curtains and a paler blue carpet. Toys had been thrown into a box and the covers on the small child's bed had been roughly made.

I let out a shrill scream. Pain and despair caused it to die down to a cry. I felt wetness on my cheeks and I smelled blood. Was this me crying? I couldn't stop to check.

There were no fresh scents up here, in the child's or Adrian's rooms. The whole upstairs was cold and empty, lacking in spirit. My scream was because I'd come so far, lost so much and wasted so much time, all to find them gone.

My feet were moving me without say so. They took me at a slow speed - even for a human - downstairs and back into the sitting room. I walked to the mantelpiece and picked up the picture with the boy in it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a picture in black and white. The shape of a baby was visible if you looked properly. The date flashed at me from the corner. It was dated just over four months ago with the words, _sixteen weeks,_ printed. I glanced back at the picture in my hands. The woman and Adrian. The scan of the baby. Maybe Adrian really had moved on.

Fresh waves of whatever I cried rolled down my cheeks and I slumped down the wall and onto the floor. I briefly heard running footsteps.

A door banging open. Torches flashing. Men shouting. Strong hands were all over me, pinning me to the floor . I couldn't bring myself to care and let my head fall to the side, my cheek resting on the floor, looking but not seeing at the pairs of feet that rushed around.

The tears wouldn't stop running as the same thoughts went round in my head. _I'm too late to find my boys. Adrian's got a new family now. I'm useless. There's no hope for me, nowhere for me to go, nothing for me to do_.

I didn't even notice that several minutes had passed and I still hadn't been staked, despite the Guardians restraining me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter, an anyone who started new with reading this. I'm trying to update more frequently, I really am. I think I'm going to post messages on my profile relating to the next chapters of this story because I don't want people to think I've given up writing this. **

**This chapter is kind of a filler so I'll try have the next one up a lot quicker so it makes up for the lack of action.**

**Thank you again for reading and please review because it makes me happy :) **

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><p>The team of Guardians had arrived at Court two days ago and in that time, the Strigoi hadn't stopped crying. It was like there were permanent tracks of red running down her cheeks. I would have stopped to think about why this Strigoi could cry but my training pushed me to think of this Strigoi as just another monster and creature of the night.<p>

Looking at the mess that creature was, the tears of blood made her look weak and vulnerable. It had been sat on the edge of the thinly covered bed in the prison cell, legs over the side and its back ram-rod straight and hadn't moved a muscle in the whole forty eight hours since it'd been locked in the cell.

"Ivashkov's still asking after it," Ivan's voice came from behind me as he was sat at the desk in the corner of the corridor. I didn't think to look there and was solely focused on the crying monster.

I sighed in response. "We can't let him see it yet."

"Why not? It's been two whole days and we said he could see it as soon as we had it locked up," what Ivan was saying was true, but I had good reason for my decision.

"That Strigoi is crying pure blood, most likely whatever it had drunk before we caught it. We've held it for about three days if you add on the time before we got to Court. Think about how much blood that thing's lost. I don't know why it's not doing it now but I bet that if we bring a Moroi in here, the Strigoi will be up against the bars of that cell doing all it can to suck the blood out of that Moroi. _That_ is why Ivashkov hasn't seen the Strigoi yet."

Ivan thought over that for a minute. "So how do we get to a point where it's safe to let him see her?"

"I'll think of something," I said as I turned away from the only occupied cell and walked up the stairs to ground level since the cells were underground. I entered the foyer of the prison building and saw Hans was on duty at the security desk. "Hey, Hans, how's things?"

He leant back in his chair and gave his head a slight nod. "Can't complain. You need something?"

"Yeah, actually. I have a few matters to attend to and it's really important that I get them done as soon as."

"Ok, I got that. I'll make sure nobody disturbs you," he said. I thanked him and went upstairs to my office.

The next three hours were spent jotting down various draft plans and near the end, making several calls. Only one got the outcome I wanted.

"Dimitri, it's been far too long!" Tasha's voice came through the receiver.

"It has, I know. Listen, I haven't really got time for a catch up, would you mind if we go straight to the point?" I felt bad about not being able to talk casually with Tasha because it had been a long time since we'd last spent any time together, but this business needed to be dealt with.

"Sure, as long as we make time soon," she sounded a bit put down but I had the ok, so I got on with my question.

"I have a problem and I think you're the only one who can help me. I need someone who can defend themselves, and you can do it with your fire, if things get out of control. You're the only person I could think of that was brave enough do this for me. I don't want to say what it is over the phone. Can you meet me in the prison building?" I prayed for a 'yes'.

It took a few seconds but Tasha eventually said she was free. She would be here in five minutes so I went down to the foyer and waited for her.

**RPOV**

I heard voices but I couldn't separate the words. I knew they were male, but it was like my head was in a bubble, not hearing the things around me.

I felt empty. Ever since I'd pieced everything together at the house, my mind was running through my whole life, showing me what I'd become, what I used to be and, most painful of all, what I could have had.

It wasn't just an emotional emptiness. My body felt empty too but my thoughts were so loud I couldn't feel the tears still rolling down my cheeks, couldn't feel my instincts screaming at me to find blood nor could I register the fact that I was covered in the smell of blood.

It was like I was in shutdown and I couldn't get out of it. So I just kept staring at the wall opposite me.

**DPOV**

I brought Tasha to my office and sat down with her on the sofa.

"I need your help," I started.

"You said that already. On the phone, remember?" she wasn't making this any easier.

I sighed. "A couple of days ago, me and my team caught a Strigoi. At the request of a high-ranking Moroi, we kept it alive and brought it back here. I don't know the reason behind this all, by the way. Moving on. There's a complication that we have get round and the only way is with your help."

Tasha looked confused. "A complication? What do you mean?"

"It's easier if I show you," I stood up and beckoned her to follow me. We went downstairs and I stopped off to see Hans briefly. "Hans, could you call Eddie and tell him to meet me downstairs? Thanks."

I took Tasha down to the cells and went straight for Ivan's desk. She sat in the chair to the side of the desk after I nodded my head towards it. The Strigoi's cell was hidden behind a wall from where we sat, so the only way Tasha would be alerted to its presence was if it decided to move or start speaking.

"Ivan, I've had a plan," I told him and he looked up from his paperwork.

"Fill me in?"

I told him it all in a hushed voice so Tasha wouldn't hear it yet. She needed to know a bit more before she was let in on this but I also needed Eddie here for more backup and extra security. When I was done telling Ivan, he sat back in his chair.

"I'm not the most comfortable with the use of the Moroi but if it needs be and if we have enough protection against the Strigoi, then we should be reasonably ok," I nodded my agreement just as Eddie came down the stairs. I had to fill him in too and when he had the same reaction as Ivan, I knew we were good to go.

"Sorry it's taken this long," I said to Tasha. "Please understand you have a choice. You can agree to do this or you can disagree, it's completely your decision. And if you do agree to help, you can back out at any time you want. Keep that in mind when we tell you what the situation is."

She nodded and I saw from the serious expression on her face that she fully understood me and also grasped the hint of danger. "Tell me what it is you want me to do, then."

I took a deep breath. "This Strigoi we've captured, it's different."

"How so?"

"It cries. It's been crying the whole time we've had it held. The tears are blood," I waited for all that to sink in.

"And what can I do to help? I don't understand what you need me for," I didn't blame her.

"Since it's been crying blood, this Strigoi must be low on blood. Very low. We need to check it's not going to attack when it sees a Moroi."

"Dimitri, of course it is! It's a Strigoi!" her outburst came as soon as I'd finished talking.

"Please, let me finish. It's not acting how a normal Strigoi acts. You already know it's crying, isn't that enough of an indication? Anyway, it's just been sat still for over forty eight hours now. We need to see what this Strigoi does in the presence of a Moroi so the Moroi we are holding it for can see it, just like they want to."

I saw this go through Tasha's mind. She was an intelligent woman and I had no doubt that she was running through all the risks and options she had in front of her. It was totally justified if she said no to all this. From that intelligence I also knew that she could tell why I'd asked her here and what she'd be likely to do.

The plan was to have her walk in front of the Strigoi's cell. As far away as possible at first and then, providing the Strigoi remains unthreatening, move closer and closer. If the Strigoi did attack the get right up to the bars then Tasha could use her practised gifts with her fire element to keep it away from the bars. The cell was secure but I didn't want to take any chances. That's the reason I called Eddie down here to be here with me and Ivan.

Long moments ensued. Until Tasha spoke. "I'll do it."

I was surprised but didn't want to waste any time. As I said, Tasha was clever enough to know the risks so I knew she'd considered this completely. "Thank you, Tasha. Let's get on with it, shall we?"

She nodded and took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves.

Then she stepped in front of the occupied cell.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok, I wasn't going to upload this until Sunday, but I've finished it and I hope the short wait between this and ch7 will make up a bit for the waits in the past :) review if you like it too x**

**RPOV**

_I was covered in blood, head to toe. I had no idea where it was flowing most heavily from as I had several open wounds. My neck felt like ice, my legs were paralysed and my stomach was just as cold as my neck, but something felt _off_ about it. _

_Through the haze on my brain due to the blood loss I managed to move my hand far enough to fall on what used to be my bloated belly. I say 'used to be' when it was barely an hour ago that it was rounded. Now, my hand fell on shredded flesh and layers of cut up fat. _

No no no! _My mind screamed what my mouth couldn't. I was too exhausted and it took me a while to get my head around what my empty stomach actually meant. My baby, my sweet little angel, was gone and I was probably going to die soon. _

_The pain was lodged in my throat, cutting off my sobs and cries for help. I wasn't trying to shout out for long though, because blackness was quickly taking over my vision._

_The very last thing I saw was a black figure walking towards my broken body._

Thinking about my past had brought up so many memories that had been blocked off by my Strigoi transformation., and they weren't all about Adrian and my pregnancy.

Lissa was the focus for a while. She was my best friend all through school and for the year that I'd lasted after we all graduated. Secretly I'd always been jealous of the attention she'd gotten from boys. Don't get me wrong, I got it too, but it was different. I attracted the bad boys, the ones who wanted a quick kiss or fuck and then dumped me in the dirt. Lissa had endless suitors of respectable, well-mannered and gentlemanly guys, all waiting for her to be single.

She only had eyes for two guys throughout her whole school life - Aaron and Christian. Her and Aaron had broken up when he'd gotten too clingy and, I suspected, a little too serious for what Lissa was ready for. That all changed when Christian came into the scene though. He'd captured her heart from almost the moment they started talking. I vaguely wondered if they were still together.

I, on the other hand, remembered going through guy after guy in high school. Every one of them wanted the same thing and I thought I wanted it too. I might have done sexual things with them but I never slept with any of them. Adrian was the one to pop my cherry and I didn't regret that part.

I did slightly regret all the men I had been with after my awakening. I say 'slightly' because it was amazing sex and I couldn't forget how good some men had been. Some I definitely could do with forgetting though, they were that bad.

In the middle of my inner turmoil, I half noticed a new scent fill my prison cell. After getting a few breaths with the scent becoming more and more powerful I recognised it as Moroi. The hunger that spiked within me was too strong to ignore. I gave in and flicked my eyes towards the bars of the cell where a hesitant Moroi stood, watching me carefully.

Three Dhampirs were standing behind her and I wondered what was going on. One of the faces I recognised as the leader of the group that had captured me in Adrian's house.

Damn, that brought me back to Adrian. My mind shut down and I forced my eyes back to the blank wall as a fresh wave of red tears came streaming down my face. The tears had slowly become more and more watery as time went on, but I didn't spare it a second thought.

My mind was closed off.

**DPOV**

Nothing. The Strigoi did almost nothing as Tasha stepped closer and closer to the bars. It had briefly set its eyes upon her and us three Dhampirs close behind her, but apart from that, it ignored us. Tasha even got brave enough to put a hand delicately on the steel bars that separated her and the supposed monster.

We watched in surprise as the Strigoi just sat still and cried more. I studied its face more, now that I was a bit more confident in approaching the cell.

The Strigoi's cheeks were more hollowed than when we caught it, the skin was stretched tightly and a sickly pale colour. I'd bet it was because of the blood loss. The blood that was now down her face, chin, and had dripped onto her lap, creating a pool of blood. It was even starting to soak through the dress and either onto the floor or down one of the pale legs.

"Ok, I've seen all I need to. Come on, Tasha," I put my hand lightly on her arm as I spoke softly. She just shook my arm off.

"I just want to try something," Tasha's eyes were curious and I didn't like it. "I'll be fine, go stand by the desk. Please."

After a hard glare from her, me, Ivan and Eddie went to stand by the desk, none of us sitting down because of the time it would waste standing up if Tasha was in danger.

"Hey, I'm Tasha," Tasha said gently to the Strigoi. It obviously didn't respond because Tasha carried on. "You're different, and we just want to help. Why are you crying?"

Suddenly there were a snarl and Tasha jumped back, hitting the wall behind her. All three Guardians leapt in front of Tasha and faced the cell, ready to do something if the Strigoi provoked it.

It didn't look any different. Sat dead still staring at a blank wall, the tears still making straight tracks down the Strigoi's face. I turned to Tasha.

"What happened?" I demanded.

She looked very shaken up. "She snarled at me. That's it. Please don't do anything to her."

I nodded. "Fine. Ivan, call Ivashkov," I told him and he turned to pick up the phone on the desk. I froze just as he picked the receiver up.

Had I imagined it? A whispered 'no' had come from the occupied cell. I stared at the Strigoi. It was silently shaking its head and moving its body back and forth where it was sat on the bed.

"Ivan, stop."

"What is it?" Tasha questioned.

All I said was, "Look at it."

They all turned to the Strigoi.

"Why's it doing that?" Eddie said. The other two shook their heads while I was thinking.

"Let's get Adrian down here," I said, my voice hesitant. That must have sparked something in the Strigoi because it suddenly jumped up.

"No, no, no! I can't, I can't!" it kept shouting, repeating over and over again.. The Strigoi's pale fingers were clenched in its hair and pulling.

"Dimitri, do something," I barely heard Tasha shout over the noise the Strigoi was making.

"Ivan, call Adrian!" I shouted to him as I unlocked the cell door and wrenched it open. The Strigoi was now sat with its side against the wall, legs brought up to its chest and its clenched fist was banging on the wall. It was still shouting.

I ran into the cell and grabbed the Strigoi's hands, pinning them behind its back. I pulled it up into a standing position and pulled it against me, using my body weight as an anchor for restraining the Strigoi. Eddie wasted no time in coming to help restrain it. He held the legs together so they couldn't kick out.

Ivan suddenly called to me, "Someone's coming to see the Strigoi now, Ivashkov says it's important to let them get to it."

I nodded, keeping most of my concentration on my hold on the Strigoi. It had stopped shouting when Ivan had finished speaking. I suspected it had something to do with Adrian because it only got worked up when we mentioned Ivashkov's name, and now that we said he wasn't coming, the Strigoi had stopped fighting me and Eddie.

I only hoped Ivashkov's friend came quickly, I hated having to hold this monster for so long.

**LPOV**

"Lissa! Where are you?" Adrian's voice rang through the house. I hopped off my stool in the kitchen and went to the doorway.

"Down here, what's up?" I called back. I heard his footsteps run down the stairs and he barely stopped in time before crashing into the wall at the end of the hallway. "Whoa, slow down!"

"Rose..Rose is...Now!" that was all I could understand through his heavy breathing.

"Rose is what now?"

"Ready! She's ready!" urgency filled his tone.

Excitement flooded my body and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. This was the day we'd been waiting days for.

"Then let's go!" I grabbed his arm and we both rushed off to the Guardian security building.

It didn't take too long to get there but by the time we both got there we were panting heavily.

"Lissa, I can't go in there," Adrian told me as he got his breath back. "I don't think I could handle seeing her like that."

I nodded and stood up straighter. "Alright. I'll see you later."

Adrian wrapped his arms around me in a comforting hug. "Good luck, " he whispered in my ear and I heard his voice crack at the end.

I turned and faced the building in front of us. _I won't leave here until I've done what I came to do_, I thought to myself as I took the stake out of my purse.


	9. Chapter 9

**LPOV**

My breath quickened as I walked down the stairs and entered the hallway with the cells on it. As I got further down the hall I could hear voices.

"I don't like this at all, Dimitri," I recognised the voice as Dimitri's best friend. Ivan, I think his name was.

"We have no other option," Dimitri grunted. He sounded like he was strained.

I passed the guard desk and saw a cell with the door open, so I walked cautiously towards it.

Tasha was stood in the cell doorway, watching the commotion inside with a worried expression. I put my hand on her shoulder and her head whipped round.

"Lissa," she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was me. She looked less stressed now she'd seen me, I was glad to see. I smiled reassuringly at her then cast my eyes over the rest of the room.

Ivan, standing in front of something Eddie and Dimitri were holding with great difficulty.

"I'm here. Ivan, could you please move?" I asked. Three more sets of eyes landed on me but I just looked expectantly at Ivan. He considered what I'd asked and slowly stepped aside. I immediately looked at what he'd been blocking from my view.

I froze. It wasn't from fear, but shock. Rose was standing in front of me, being held tightly by Dimitri and Eddie, but that wasn't what shocked me. Her eyes were a vivid red, different to what you'd normally see on a Strigoi. That, however, was also not what shocked.

Tears of blood ran slowly down her face. They stopped at her chin then dripped either onto the front of her already bloodied dress or onto the floor. I had never heard of a Strigoi that cried. Ever. And I'll be honest, the fact that she was crying blood was creeping me out.

"Princess," Dimitri nodded at me.

"Lissa," I said absently. My eyes were still transfixed on the mess that was my best friend.

"Hurry with whatever you're doing, the Strigoi isn't properly restrained and the cell door is wide open."

"Don't be alarmed at anything I do," I told Eddie and Dimitri. Ivan and Tasha were standing well back, Ivan at the ready with his stake.

I slowly put my arms around Rose's shoulders in a hug. I wanted to give her one last hug, in case this didn't work.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," I whispered in her ear. She had frozen the moment I'd come within a step of her.

Suddenly she started thrashing around. "No! I can't! Let me go!" she kept saying over and over again. I was starting to get worried about if she broke her holds so I braced myself for what would come next.

My hand went in my purse and I took out the only thing in it.

Steadying my feet on the ground, I took a deep breath and lunged at Rose.

**RPOV**

I couldn't see Adrian. Not now, not ever. I'd thought I was ready, but I'll be damned if I'm anywhere near it.

After hearing Adrian wasn't actually coming to see me I retreated back into my mind, blocking out my surroundings. I have no idea how long I was like that before I heard a new voice. A woman's voice. Its familiarity stirred my memory but I'd had enough remembering to last a lifetime. I paid no attention to it until a fresh wave of body heat came close to me. That also brought a new scent.

One was unfamiliar to me but the one laced over that went me into another frenzy.

_Adrian! _my mind screamed at me. I wished so hard for me to be imagining things but as I inhaled deeper there was no mistaking it. I became aware of my surroundings again with a jolt.

I thrashed and tried to break free of the hands that were clenched on my upper arms but with no success. The next few moments were a blur.

Several voices shouted out.

Hands flew everywhere.

Someone's body was flung against a wall.

A flash of silver and a blinding light.

* * *

><p><strong>I know I know, it's so short! I think it's really good cliffie though. It was really hard writing from Rose's Strigoi point of view in the last 2-3 chapters because she's not had much on her mind and getting all the emotion that she's actually feeling is so hard to put into words. Another reason I've left the chapter here is because the writing style will be a bit different in Rose's POV and I want the chapters to be pretty consistent. Some people will definitely know why it'll all change. I'm so excited to get writing it all! <strong>

**Please review x**


	10. Chapter 10

**APOV**

Lissa had been gone for about an hour and I'd been waiting around outside ever since. It wasn't like I could just go about my normal day though, I mean, my ex-fiancée and the mother of my first child was either going to die fully or come back.

"Ah, crap," I muttered to myself as I grew restless again. I couldn't stay here any longer. Sydney would be at Lissa's by now so I supposed it was time to go talk this through with her. Me, her and Jason were all staying in Lissa's townhouse in Court. It was certainly big enough for us all.

As I walked I took the time to relax. It was my time before the storm but I didn't know how much of a storm it would be. Maybe it would be that we would finally tell Jason what happened to his mother that prevented him from knowing her. Maybe it would be the first time we told Jason that he could actually _meet_ his mother.

For me, this was all about my boy. Rose was my first real love but I'd had three years to move on, and that's definitely what I did. I'd built a new life with Sydney and the three of us were more than happy with it. Especially because we'd soon have four of us.

I felt a coil of excitement in my stomach after that last thought came into my head. Obviously Jason was still special in so many ways to me, not just because he was my first child, but the baby me and Syd were expecting was special in a different way for me. I'd be there for the whole thing - pregnancy _and_ birth.

"Adrian," I heard my name being called and I was snapped out of my inner thoughts. I hadn't noticed I was about to walk right past Lissa's house and if Sydney hadn't shouted my name, I probably would have. "You were miles away," she commented as I walked up the garden path.

"Yeah I was just thinking," I left it at that and wrapped my arms around Sydney. "You know, I took Lissa to the Guardian's cell block today."

"Has she got into trouble? Is everything - oh," realisation dawned on her. "Come on, let's discuss this inside." She took me inside and shut the door. We went into the kitchen and she sat down while I made tea for us both.

"Where's Jason?"

"I dropped him off at a friend's house. He adjusts so well so quickly. He's already made friends with half the kids that go to the babysitter that Lissa recommended."

"Good, I'm glad. This is going to get harder on him and I wish it wouldn't," I ran a hand through my hair.

"I know. He does have so many people around him that can help and he knows it. I'm not too worried for him," Sydney replied, coming to stand beside me and rubbing my back. "Listen, Adrian, I've been meaning to talk to you about this whole thing ever since you started discussing it with Lissa," I heard her take a deep breath and carry on. "If you want some time with Rosemarie, I can let you have that. People need closure and I don't want to stand in your way-"

I cut her off. "No. Stop right there," I turned to face her and put my hands on either side of her waist. "I wanted Rose back because life as a Strigoi isn't a life at all, not even half. I've grown to care for her but only because of her connection to Jason. I love _you_. My feelings for Rose were gone right about the time I met you. The only reason I'm so worked up over the outcome is that one way, Jason meets his biological mother, and the other, we have to tell him that she's been a blood-sucking Strigoi for the past three years but is now dead."

"So this is all about Jason, for you?" I could hear the hope in Syd's voice.

"Yes, it always has been. I thought you knew?"

"No. I didn't spend too long ever thinking about it."

"Oh. Hey, before you start going over what I just said, let me just tell you something," I took her face gently in my hands. "You are as much Jason's mother as Rose is, you just came about it differently," I hoped that made sense. It did in my head but it might have come out a little mixed.

I guess it came out just right because she leaned up on her toes and pecked me on her lips. She lingered at my height for a couple of seconds and I stole a couple more kisses.

It would all be fine, totally fine, whichever way today turned out.

**3rd person POV**

Light filled the prison cell and stretched a little way beyond, into the corridor. It blocked everything out of vision to a point where everyone had to either close their eyes or cover them. It barely lasted five seconds but it was enough to stun the everyone. As it began to fade, the source became visible.

Lissa was on her knees trying to hold up a limp Rose. Lissa was already straining with the effort, despite Rose's lack of weight.

Dimitri stood stock still for a few more seconds to let the scene in front of him register in his mind. He couldn't get over what he'd seen just before the Strigoi had bowed its head. Regular, brown eyes. Then reality set in.

All of a sudden Lissa had three Dhampirs trying to separate her from Rose while a slightly shaky Tasha tried to calm the situation down. The guardians finally managed to separate the pair on the floor, with Eddie pulling Rose up and restraining her wrists while Ivan was supporting Lissa. The massive use of spirit had drained her energy.

"No! Let me stay with her!" Lissa begged. Dimitri moved to stand in front of her, blocking her view of Rose.

"Princess, please, you need to go to the infirmary. We don't know what that was but you need to be checked up," I shook my head rapidly. "Ivan, help her there."

Ivan nodded and started gently moving Lissa towards the corridor. She would have put up a fight but her mind was slowly giving in to exhaustion.

Tasha followed them long enough to hear Lissa give her a message for Adrian. "Tell Adrian it worked," was all Lissa got out before she was in the lift and going back up to ground level

Back in the cell, Dimitri was cautiously lifting the Strigoi's eyelid. He had to check what he'd seen just before.

Dimitri's eyes widened. "I don't believe it," he whispered in shock.

"What is it?" Eddie asked with slight effort as the person he was currently holding up had lost the use of their legs. If Eddie hadn't kept hold of the Strigoi, it would have fallen to the floor. "What's going on with this Strigoi?"

"It- I mean she - isn't a Strigoi," Dimitri moved his fingers to her neck and pressed lightly. He could feel a pulse thump against his fingers. "Look," he instructed Eddie to do as Dimitri had just done

"What? How?" he stuttered out.

"Hold up, Castille, help me get her on the bed," Dimitri took her legs while Eddie took her back and together they got her on the bed. Somewhere during the time of that happening she had fallen unconscious.

"Dimitri, what do we do?" Eddie asked, standing by Dimitri's shoulder. He was crouching by Rose's head, running through the night's events.

"Go fetch a nurse or someone from the infirmary we need to get her checked out properly and I don't want to risk moving her," it was both for the risk of the Moroi if Rose was really still a Strigoi and for the risk of hurting her. She looked so fragile and Dimitri didn't want to move her more.

When Eddie had gone, Dimitri stood up. He walked to the cell entrance and leaned against the door.

His mind just couldn't get over what he had witnessed. Answers were needed, but he doubted they would come soon.

**APOV**

As the night was coming to a close and Jason was tucked up in bed, Sydney and I decided to take a walk around, leaving Christian in charge of making sure Jason didn't get scared if he woke up.

Ever since our earlier conversation, me and Sydney had been working really well together. Happier together. I wasn't sure if it was because I'd settled some of her worries or because she was excited about other things, mainly the upcoming arrival of the new Sage-Ivashkov baby.

"Do you think we'll be able to leave soon?" she asked me as she wound her arm through mine.

I considered this. "I hope so. I still haven't set up the crib for baby back at home and the thought of having to buy another one for while we stay here is making me considerably less excited about the whole thing."

She frowned. "I told you to get that sorted days ago, Adrian. Oh well. If the little one's a few days early and comes while we're here, I'm sure we can manage with only buying a bassinette. We don't have one at home so we wouldn't be buying something we already have. Baby clothes would also need to be bought, someone made me pack quickly and I had no chance to think this far ahead," her frown smoothened out. "Oh, hi, Tasha."

Tasha had come round the corner of the street, walking with a purpose and a concentrated look on her face. "Ah! Adrian! I need to speak with you."

I furrowed my eyebrows but agreed, nodding a go ahead when Tasha cast a quick questioning look at Sydney.

"Ok. Lissa's told me to tell you that it worked."

I actually leaned back I was that shocked. The words had to be replayed several times in my head before I could understand what Tasha had just said.

"Wow. I..." I had no idea what to say.

Lissa's plan had worked. Rose wasn't a Strigoi anymore, if what Tasha said is true.

"This is to do with Rose, isn't it?" she guessed. I nodded.

"How do you know?"

"I saw it happen - actually, I only saw _something_ happen. I have no clue what it was."

"She's back. Rose is back," I said, still stunned.

"Yes, I know that bit, I've just seen her. Strigoi and all," I let Tasha think that way because I wasn't sure if this should go out around Court just yet. We should all have one night of acceptance and then we would deal with whatever consequences came up. I gave my thanks to Tasha, who nodded and walked back the way she came.

"Come on, we should get back. It's not like we can really do anything else," Sydney tugged on my arm and I let her turn us both around and start walking back to Lissa and Christian's house.

Once there, I went straight to Christian.

"Chris, Lissa's managed to get Rose back. Your aunt just told us. Lissa wasn't with her, so you can go find her. We'll be ok here," I reassured him. I knew he'd want to find Lissa and make sure she was alright as soon as possible. His love for her was immense.

Christian raced out the door and we were left alone in the kitchen.

"I hope to God that it's true," I said to the silence.

* * *

><p><strong>This was such a hard chapter to write because of the whole transformation thing. I tried it in so many different point of views but none were right so I just settled on third person. I hope it was alright because I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I'm sick of being stuck with this chapter and it's the happiest I've been with it so far. <strong>

**Please review, even if it's only to tell me you think this could have been written better :L thanks! x**


	11. Chapter 11

**RPOV**

Silence was all that greeted me when I came to. Cold, hard silence. Even before my eyes opened I was briefly hyperaware of my body. My feet, tucked under a blanket that stopped at my waist. My arms that lay on top of that blanket with the intrusive feeling of a needle in my inner elbow. My head resting on a soft pillow with my hair gathered to one side of my neck. I could barely feel any of that when I finally opened my eyes.

I was disorientated and looking around made me feel no better. Plain white walls surrounded me. I was lying on a bed pushed to one side, with two armchairs against the wall on the other side. There was a window in the wall opposite the end of the bed but it was covered by blinds. A door was next to it and I decided I'd rather take the door than look out the window.

I swung my legs to the side and off the bed and it was only then that I noticed why I could feel something in my elbow. An IV was attached to me and was slowly dripping fluids into my system. I tried to remove the tape that held the needle in but my fingers just fumbled around and I only ended up in scratching the skin with my nails.

"Oh, screw it," I muttered and threw my hand down onto the edge of the bed. "Ow," I cried when pain shot up my arm after my closed fist collided with the hard metal bed frame.

Wait - that wasn't right. Pain? _What is going on?_ I thought to myself. Strigoi didn't feel pain that easily, if at all. I stared at my hand in wonder. there was a thumping sounding in my ears and it was started to unnerve me.

I whipped my head around the room, on the defensive, searching for the source of the thumping.

"No," I whispered as a thought came into my head. The IV? The pain? The thumping? None of it made sense. I shouldn't feel pain. I was willing to bet that nobody had ever put an IV in a Strigoi, too.

_What if you aren't Strigoi?_ My own thoughts scared me sometimes. I brought two shaking fingers up to my neck, just below my jaw, and pressed.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

"No!" I actually shouted this time. I jumped off the bed and tried to yank the IV out by the tube this time, screw the needle. I needed to get out of here. What was happening to me? Was this a horrible dream? I couldn't make sense of it.

I jumped about a mile in the air when three Moroi in nurse uniforms ran into the room and tried to look at what was causing me to act this way. When they couldn't find it within a couple of seconds, they instead settled for restraining me best they could and talking me down. Or trying to, at least.

"Stop, please!"

"You'll just hurt yourself!"

"We're here to help you!"

All three different voices were speaking to me at once and none of the words they said were being registered in my brain.

I shouted one last "No!" before a guardian came in. He took one look at the struggling Moroi and moved to grab my wrists and push them together. The three Moroi stepped back and seemed pretty confident with the hold that the guardian had over me. Speaking of which, he was speaking gentle reassurances in my ear with a low voice. It didn't do much to calm my inner turmoil but it did enough to stop my physical attempts at breaking free.

As soon as I stopped fighting two of the nurses left, leaving me with a kind-faced older woman as my nurse. She took one look at my IV drip and tutted.

"You've made a real mess with this," she told me, lifting my arm by the elbow. I hadn't noticed, but when I tried to pull the tube out of the needle I'd vaguely succeeded and a clear liquid was now trickling down my forearm. The stupid needle was still stuck in my elbow. The nurse carefully reattached the tube to the needle. "I'll have to redo the whole thing when this bag is finished. Not long, though, you really needed it."

I swallowed and found my voice. "What did I need? And what happened to me? Where am I? I don't understand," I couldn't help the crack in voice throughout nearly all my words.

"You needed nutrients and since we couldn't wake you yet, we had to use the drip. Don't worry, you'll be doing just fine very soon. As for your other questions, I have a feeling Guardian Belikov will have access to better answers than me," the nurse smiled slightly at me before she left the room.

Guardian Belikov moved round to stand in front of me, still managing to hold my wrists, somehow. "Can I let you go? Or will you just kick off again?" his voice washed over me like cool water. He had a faint accent and I vaguely wondered where he was from originally.

I shook my head. "I'll be good," I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear it.

"Good. Sit. Your body's been through a lot," I slowly turned and sat on the bed, bringing my legs up to sit cross-legged on the covers. Guardian Belikov took one of the armchairs against the wall.

"So?" I asked him, prompting him to answer my earlier questions.

"I'll start from the beginning. My name is Dimitri. I'm part of a team of Guardians that go around the US finding and eliminating Strigoi nests. You were in charge of one of the nests that we raided. You got away but we tracked your car. At your base we found a box filled with some things you'd kept from your human life. They led us on certain trails that enabled us to capture you and bring you back to Court at the request of one Moroi. We kept you in the cells until a different Moroi paid you a visit. That Moroi staked you but the stake was infused with a very rare element, along with the other four. It turned you back to a Dhampir."

I took several moments to process that and then it all came flooding back.

I was Rosemarie Hathaway, turned Strigoi at 18 against my will. At the time I was engaged and pregnant by Adrian Ivashkov, my high school sweetheart. My best friend was Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, who dated Christian Ozera.

For some reason it felt necessary to go over that information in my mind. It was like waking up from a deep sleep. I was totally clueless to my surroundings and when I was reminded of my life, it was a shock because it all came back at once.

"Oh god," I whispered. My Strigoi memories were taking over and shadowing my mortal memories.

"What is it?" Dimitri asked, concern in his voice.

"So much blood, so many bodies. I'm a monster," my hands, that were previously grabbing the hair at the side of my head, moved to in front of me. I could only stare at them as they shook. All I could see was the blood that had covered them hundreds of times during the past three years.

"You aren't that monster anymore. You have a heartbeat. Your own blood runs through your veins. You are as Dhampir as I am."

"Stop lying to me!" it wasn't fair.

"Rose, I promise you, I wouldn't lie to you," I so wanted to believe him. So badly.

"But you are. I can't do this, I won't," I kept repeating that as tears slowly started rolling down my cheeks. Dimitri just took his phone out and had a quick, muffled conversation with someone on the other line before putting it away.

"Please, just listen to me. You can feel your own pulse. Listen to it. Focus on it. Understand what it means," I knew what he wanted me to think it meant. He wanted me to think that just because I could hear my heartbeat, that meant I was totally alive, a full Dhampir. I'd been in the loop long enough to know that there were tricks in this world that could make this all an illusion.

I shook my head at Dimitri.

"Maybe if you won't listen to me, you'll listen to someone else," he said, nodding towards the door. I glanced up at the door, ready to contradict Dimitri again, but my words got stuck in my throat as I saw who was there.

"Lissa," I whispered and jumped up from the bed. She opened her arms and I willingly went to her for a hug. Right now i didn't care about the situation I was in. I had my best friend right in front of me and I didn't have the urge to kill her, that was all that mattered.

"Come on, let's sit back on the bed," she took me to the bed and I sat down as I had before. She sat in front of me, with her legs dangling off the side of the bed. I briefly noticed Dimitri had moved to stand in the corner of the room before turning my attention back to Lissa.

"What's happened to me?" I asked. I couldn't stop the crack in my voice.

"I brought you back, Rose. I restored you. The stake I staked you with was infused with spirit too. We had no idea if it would work or not but we tried it anyway. I'd always thought you never wanted to live as a Strigoi and I knew that either way this staking turned out, you'd be free."

"How did you know to charm the stake with spirit?"

"I'd been doing some research on spirit and I came across a case where one Moroi's guardian was turned, and the Moroi brought him back. All I had to do then was ask Adrian if I could do it," she shrugged. I sucked in a breath. I'd hoped not to touch the subject of Adrian.

"Oh," I had to ask sooner or later so I decided sooner. "How is he?"

She looked at me with a concerned look in her eyes. "Rose, I don't think now's the best time. Maybe later?"

"No. I want to know now," the photographs I'd seen in Adrian's home were brought to the front of my mind and I needed to find some answers.

"He's engaged again. She's called Sydney and she's really lovely. They're expecting their first child any day now," that wasn't what I wanted to hear. Totally the opposite.

"What about my baby? I was pregnant when I turned and I need to know what happened to my baby."

"I can't say. I've been told not to tell."

_No_.

If I had any tears left then my face would be streaming with them. As it was, there were none left. I was empty.

**This chapter is a bit of a filler, as in there's really not much going on at all. It'll get more exciting really soon though, hang in there! **

**Please review, it makes me smile every time someone does :) x**


	12. Chapter 12

**2 Weeks Later**

I couldn't stop pacing up and down my bedroom. After going through about a hundred different medical and mental tests and examinations, I'd been officially declared as Dhampir again. They'd given me an apartment in the guest housing of Court. It was tiny, really, but it was just the right size for me. I had no personal belongings and the few clothes I'd been given after leaving the infirmary only took up a chest of drawers.

Although I'd been recognised by medical staff as Dhampir and totally mortal, all the Court officials had to review the case and decide whether or not I was safe enough to live at Court independently. If they said I wasn't for some reason then I'd be banished permanently from Court and sent to either a Dhampir commune or to live somewhere at least one hundred miles outside of Court. I accepted these conditions if that was the outcome because if I was dangerous the last thing I wanted to do was go on a killing spree and attack anyone at Court. That being said, I felt totally Dhampir again. Hopefully I wouldn't have to leave Court.

As I was still a potential threat, I'd been put under twenty four hour watch. Whenever I was in my apartment there was always a guardian standing outside the front door and whenever I went outside I had to say where I was going, get clearance and had to be followed by whichever guardian was watching me at that time. It was ridiculous.

Right now I was pacing up and down because Lissa had said she'd come to see me sometime tonight and that she'd be telling me something important. I couldn't help but get my hopes up that it was about my boy.

i jumped about a foot in the air when there was a knock at my door. I practically sprinted to get it.

"Lissa," I breathed a sigh of relief. The waiting had been killing me.

"Hi, Rose. How are you?" she asked as she followed me to the couch. Dimitri came in behind her and stood leaning against a wall a few feet away as he was her guardian.

"Fine. What did you want to tell me?" I couldn't keep the anticipation out of my voice.

She visibly took a deep breath. "You might not like it. As in really not like it. You've got to promise not to lash out or do anything stupid."

"Yeah, I promise. Now what is it?" I leaned right forward in my seat.

Another deep breath. "I know you've wanted to know what happened to your baby ever since you were changed back and it's only now that I've been given the ok to tell you. When you were turned Strigoi, your baby was taken out of you. He was left on Adrian's doorstep."

"He was left on the doorstep? Just left there?" I whispered. How could they do that to a _baby_?

"Yes. Adrian found him before anything happened to him though. Adrian called him Jason."

I felt the familiar prick of tears in my eyes and I brought my hand to my mouth.

"Adrian had been raising him on his own for the first two years. They're both perfectly fine."

The reality hit me just then. I had a son. He was probably less than a mile away from me right now. "Oh my God, Liss," my voice broke at the end and Lissa smiled.

"Come here," she put her arms round my shoulders as the first tears fell.

I'd been crying a lot the past two weeks. Sometimes about the torture I'd put people through as a Strigoi, partly about all the things I'd missed and partly about what my life could have been like. I wasn't coping with the stress of this whole situation very well at all. The one good thing that came out of it all was that I could practice putting on a brave face.

It was only then that I realised what Lissa had actually said.

"What do you mean 'for the first two years'? Jason would be three now," my heart warmed slightly after saying his name but it sank as I ran through what she could say next.

"Adrian's engaged. I'm so sorry, Rose."

"Sorry that he's moved on or sorry that you're the one who had to tell me?" my voice was cold and harsh. I pulled away from Lissa. I ignored that stab of guilt at her slightly pained expression. "Is that all you had to tell me?"

"No," her voice was quiet and weak. "He and Sydney have just had a baby together."

_No, no, no_. Some part of me said it was only natural for him to move and even start a new family with someone else, but the bigger part of me was just furious that I'd missed having the life with him that I'd dreamed of. My chance was gone now.

I stood up and stormed into my bedroom, slamming the door with all the force I had. Fuelled by adrenaline and anger I was able to push the chest of drawers in front of the door within seconds. Then I spun and smashed my fist into the mirror that hung on the wall.

I got some release from that but mostly I just got pain from my hand that was now shredded to bits due to the smashed glass. I sat down heavily on my bed and put my head in my hands, not caring the blood from my knuckles was now running down my arms, down my leg and slowly dripping onto the carpet.

"Rose? Rose, are you ok?" Lissa's worried voice came from the other side of the door.

"No! I'm not fucking ok!" I shouted back.

I heard murmured voices from the other side of the door.

"I'm guessing you want to be alone right now so I'll leave you be. If you want to talk more then come see me, I'll leave my address on the counter," footsteps went away from my room and I heard the front door close a few seconds later.

It took a good twenty minutes of me breathing deeply before I felt calm enough to leave my room. It took some effort to push the chest of drawers back to its previous position and I had an idea of what I could do next.

I went into the main room of my apartment with the kitchen, dining room and living room all in one and grabbed my bag from its place on the coffee table. I was about to walk out the door when I decided to pick up the paper with Lissa's address on it, too.

"Where are you going?" the guardian outside my door said.

"I'm going to buy some workout clothes and then go to the gym," I said, rolling my eyes. I hated having to do that every time I wanted to leave my apartment. Didn't it violate my rights on privacy or something?

He nodded. "Ok."

I started walking and heard my guard following me. This was honestly ridiculous. I mean, didn't they have a shortage of guardians? If that was the case why were they making one tail me all the time? Some people need to sort out priorities.

The was only one sports shop in Court and that was right in the middle of where all the Dhampir's housing was. I quickly picked up some workout shorts, tank top and trainers and paid for them with the money Lissa had given me when I left the infirmary. It was to be used on food and stuff but I didn't have much of an appetite so I had a fair amount in excess.

Now that I was all ready to go to the gym I walked quickly over to one of the least popular ones. It was right on the edge of Court so it not very convenient to get to which was why it was rarely used. It was also surrounded by Moroi accommodation so that was another reason, I guess.

I wanted to get started as soon as possible so it took me hardly any time at all to get changed.

I got to work on the weights first. It frustrated me that I was so unfit but I was determined to push myself as hard as possible to get fit as quickly as possible. I vaguely noticed my guardian watching me from the corner of the room but I ignored him and carried on.

When I'd had my fill of the weights I went out to the track and began running. My pace was far too slow for my liking but I figured I'd rather see how many laps I could do now and see how long I could go for.

"Nice to see you down here, Rose," I heard from behind me and saw Eddie join me, slowing down to run at my pace. I'd gotten the impression he'd wanted to see me during the past two weeks but work had gotten in the way.

My guess was that it was because he felt bad for what I'd gone through, since he'd seen me as a Strigoi and all.

"How's it all going?" I was going to get real sick of that question soon.

"It's alright, I guess," I wanted to make a bit of an effort to socialise with Eddie. He was a good guy from what I'd seen of him and I could use a Dhampir friend to hang out with. He could probably even help me with training if I asked him. "I'm totally bored. Nothing to do, nobody to see."

Eddie hesitated before speaking again. "Do you want a job? I can put in a good word for you and could probably get you one here or another gym, if you like?"

That sounded alright to me. It would give me something to do with my time and I'd get paid for it as well and wouldn't have to rely on Lissa for money. I didn't like mooching off people.

"I don't think you'd be able to get something within the Guardian ranks, like a desk job or anything. Maybe once you get reinstated as a Guardian they'll let you back in."

"I don't think they'd let me. I'm doubtful they'll even let me be a Guardian again."

"Hey, you never know," it was nice to hear someone have a little faith, for once. "When do they make the decision?"

"There's going to be a conference thing sometime next week. That's all I've been told. It's going to be all the Moroi royal council members, the head Guardians and the couple of Guardians they've assigned to watch me."

"Lissa will be there then. She'll make a case for you. I wouldn't worry. Just out of curiosity, what happens if they deem you unsafe?"

"I get sent away. Permanently," my tone was flat.

"That would suck. I'd come visit you though," he smiled at me.

I'd run out of energy so I stopped when I reached the gym building again.

"Thanks, Eddie. I'm heading off now. See you later," I waved at him and he waved back before he set off running again.

I took a quick shower, got changed back into my jeans and t-shirt, threw my hair into a messy ponytail and left it like that to dry as I walked out of the gym.

I was walking through a park in the richer Moroi housing area when I remembered Lissa's address in my bag. I fished it out and looked at it. Only two streets away from where I was now, so I headed over there. I didn't know what I'd say to her apart from apologising to her for earlier. Now that I'd spent a couple of hours working out my frustration I felt better and could see that I'd probably acted the wrong way when hearing what she'd said.

I'd just reached the end of Lissa's road when I heard voices coming from halfway down the street.

"Oh, I forgot Eliza's bottle, can you go get it? I left it on the kitchen counter," a woman's voice said.

"Sure, just wait a sec," I froze when I recognised the man's voice that replied. _Adrian_, my mind screamed at me. I could feel my mind trying to get my body to move forward and sneak a glance at him but my muscles wouldn't budge. I couldn't see him as I hadn't gone completely round the corner yet.

As I was still frozen in the same spot I heard the woman cooing to Eliza, who I presumed was her baby. Things clicked together in my mind as I heard the woman's voice.

The woman must be Sydney, Adrian's fiancée. And then I remembered Lissa saying they'd just had a baby together. None of that hurt as much as when I realised Eliza was the name me and Adrian would have called our baby had it been a girl.

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><p><strong>Sorry it's been a couple of weeks again, I've just started 6th form and it's a bit of work jump compared to year 11.<strong>

**I've got some action lined up for some chapters but it might all started in the one after next because there are some things I have to get out of the way, such as what Rose will be classified as. I've got a few ideas floating around in my mind but there might be a big surprise in store! **

**Thank you so much for all the review, I love you guys so much for reviewing! I had about 10 before I started updating this year and now I've just passed 50! I know it's barely any compared to some stories but it's so close to beating what one of my deleted stories got. **

**So please review, tell me what you think, what you think might happen, what you like, what you don't like, whatever you want x**


	13. Chapter 13

I could have gotten out of that situation without anything happening. I could have double-backed on myself and gone right round another street to get to Lissa's townhouse. But of course, that's not what happened.

I was frozen in spot so when Adrian left the house and went round to the driver's side of the car to get in, he could see right round the corner. His eyes briefly looked up and he looked back down as he lifted his foot to step into the car.

"Rose?" he stopped moving and stared. My eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What did you say?" a curious muffled voice came from inside the car, followed by the sound of a door opening and Sydney stepping out. "Oh my gosh."

I noticed that as soon as Sydney saw it was me, she moved to close the door slightly and block it with her body, as if she was scared I'd try to get in for some reason.

_She's scared of you. You were a monster, what else could you expect?_ a harsh voice whispered in my mind.

"No," I simply said ad stumbled backwards. Once finding my feet a bit more I turned and rushed down the street. I heard my name being called behind me but I didn't stop running.

"Rose!" it was called from in front of me this time. I skidded to a halt just in time to stop myself hitting Lissa. "What happened? Are you ok?" I found myself shaking slightly.

"Adrian..." I said, my voice breaking. She nodded and gently took my elbow, leading me to her home. I was relieved to see Adrian's car gone from the street.

When I stepped into the townhouse I couldn't help being amazed at the beauty of the architecture. The hallway had a marbled floor that ended in a closed door and an archway leading to what looked like a lounge. On the right, halfway down the hall there was an open door into the kitchen, which is where Lissa took me. There was another archway from the kitchen leading to the dining room.

"Coffee?" Lissa asked me, pushing me into one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

"Have you got anything stronger?" I asked her. Alcohol had almost no effect on me as a Strigoi and I hadn't had a real drink in the two weeks since I'd been restored. Lissa went rummaging in some cupboards and pulled out a bottle of wine. "Perfect," I said.

I picked up some glasses for her and stood up. We went into the lounge and fell back onto one of the sofas, taking no time to break into the wine.

"Talk to me," Lissa said, taking a sip from her glass. I went straight in for a gulp.

I took a deep breath before starting. "I feel like shit all the time. I can't get the memories out of my head. I just know that I'll always be associated with being a bloodsucking murderer. It's not like I chose to be that way though!"

Lissa just sat and nodded. I liked that she didn't speak. I felt like this was the first time I could really open up to her about this all. My reflex was to bury all my emotions and try to live like the past three years hadn't happened, but that method was really starting to fail me.

"People are scared of me, Liss. _Scared_. I know there's going to be that hearing thing about my current state of being, but even if they agree I'm a full Dhampir again, I'm never going to have a normal life here. I'll only ever be the woman who was the monster. If I stay, I'll have no life."

"That's not true! I heard Eddie's going to try get you a job soon. Who's to say something won't come out of that? And anyway, people will get used to you and see that you _are_ a Dhampir. And even if they don't, they can't exile you from Court for that, and you still have all of your friends."

"Yeah, I guess," I said, non committed, topping up both of our glasses.

"Now, what's this about Adrian?" finally time to talk about it. Maybe it would help?

"I saw him with Sydney, taking their baby out some place. She's called Eliza."

I got a blank look. "So?"

"Liss, that's the name me and Adrian would have called our child if we had a daughter," realisation dawned on her face.

"I'm sorry, Rose. Surely he must have forgotten? I know that's hard for you, but it's better than thinking he's trying to keep your relationship alive. He really is happy with Sydney."

I sighed. "I know. I know he's moved on and that I should too, but it's harder for me. He's had three years of coming to terms with the fact that I could have been dead. I've had three years of terrorising and draining innocent people."

"We haven't had enough wine for this conversation, I think. It'll get easier to talk about but right now I think we both need it, you especially," she topped our glasses up again. The bottle was three quarters gone already. "I'll just get another bottle now so that I don't have to get up later."

While she was gone, I got up and walked to the mantelpiece above the fireplace. On it was a display of picture frames. Most were of Lissa and Christian, but there were a couple of groups of people, Christian's family before most of them were killed, Lissa family before the car crash, and one of all of us from when we were in high school. I smiled as I swished the wine slowly around my wine glass.

"Got one," Lissa declared as she walked back in the room. She set the new bottle beside the nearly empty first one and came to see what I was looking at. "Oh, do you remember that day?"

She was talking about that last photo, the one of our friends in high school. It had been a Halloween dance and Lissa and I had gone as elves while Christian was Santa. There were a few other friends in the photo but I didn't spare them much thought.

"How are you and Christian? The last I remember of you two was when you were joking around about getting married," I gave a small laugh, seeing them pretending to propose to each other.

She held up her left hand. On her fourth finger was a silver ring with a rectangle diamond with two smaller square diamonds on either side of it.

"Oh my gosh, Liss! Congratulation! I'd always hoped you'd end up getting married, you're like the perfect couple," I gushed to her, taking her hand and studying the ring more closely.

She laughed. "Thank you. You're about five months late with the congratulations but I'll let it slide." I laughed with her this time.

"When's the big day?"

"We're planning it for next summer. No dates organised yet but we've started gathering ideas of themes and where to have it."

"You mean _you've_ been gathering ideas?" somehow I couldn't see Christian being very interested in these things. Lissa was always the design freak. I'm guessing she probably decorated this house like it was.

"Shut up. You know me too well," she said, taking a sip of wine. I did the same and began to feel a happy buzz spreading through my chest. "We've been talking about children, too."

I gasped and smiled. "Aw, that's so exciting! You'll make amazing parents, I know you both will. Is Chrissy down for it?"

"Yes. Whenever we talk about it he gets really happy. We were talking about whether to start trying before the wedding, but I'm not sure. I mean, we're in no rush to get married. Mind you, we're not exactly in a rush to start having kids yet, either."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. I'm still so happy for you guys."

We spent the next hour or so talking and gossiping about old times and some of what I'd missed that went on in her life. We somehow got onto the topic of her house and how she had, in fact, redecorated it from what it was when they moved in.

"Will you show me round? I want to appreciate some good decor for once. My apartment is boring grey and I hate staring at the walls."

"Sure," she jumped up, pulling me with her. We were both very happy from the wine and getting into the giggling stage, despite running out of wine about half an hour ago.

I'd already seen the kitchen and dining room so Lissa showed me the garden first, explaining how she'd made the designs for it to match the style of the exterior of the house and had a professional gardener do it for her.

Trees lined one side of the garden, leaving a strip of shaded area. A shed was nestled into the trees. There was a stone path winding roughly down the middle and all the way to the end of the manicured grass. The stones led up a raised piece of land where a pond was. A bench was in front of the pond and I knew that when the sun shone on it, it would be a beautiful place to spend a couple of hours. Back by the patio doors as an area of paved stones that had an outdoor dining set that would be perfect for hosting late evening dinner parties.

"It's so amazing, Liss. You totally could have done this professionally," I told her as we walked through the house, to the front and up the stairs.

"Thanks. I gave it some thought but I gave up on the idea. If I wanted a career out of it I would have to have taken another four year course and after the one that I'd already taken, I didn't really want to spend more time on something that my heart wasn't absolutely set on."

She showed me the master bedroom, the study and a guest room.

"Dimitri sleeps in there when Court's on high alert," she told me, pointing to another door at the end of a hallway. "It doesn't happen very often but when it does, even if the danger's gone, Guardians are told to stay the night with their charges. So he stays in that room," I nodded. In my current state of mind, all I could focus on about Dimitri was his rugged handsomeness and his thick accent. I loved accents. They drove me wild.

"Up here are more guest bedrooms, but you can see the whole of Court from the window at the end of the corridor," Lissa led me up to the third and final floor. It was a simple hallway with a few doors branching off the sides, and a big circular window at the end of the hallway. She was right, it was high enough to see basically all of Court.

As I walked along the hallway and came to pass one of the doors that was left slightly ajar, my foot connected with something. I looked down to see a child's toy. I presumed it went in the room it was outside, though I had no idea why Lissa would have a children's toy up here. She was busy watching the view so I went right ahead and opened the door.

White walls, cream carpet, a simple single bed on one side of the wall. The sheets on it were messed up and obviously nobody had even tried to make the bed. I saw a box with more toys in so I walked over a put the toy in the box. As I turned to go, my eyes fell on a small suitcase behind the door. It was propped up against the wall so that I could read the word 'Jason' that had obviously been hand sewn on with hand-cut material letters.

I looked around the rest of the room. The wine-haze was making me slower than usual but it didn't stop my mind working completely. Lissa had said my son was called Jason. My son that was three and would still play with toys that could be from that box.

"Jason," I whispered to myself, letting the word roll off my tongue. I wanted - no, _needed_ to see him. I didn't care what Adrian or Lissa said. I would meet my son even if it killed me.

I heard the front door slam downstairs and the faint sound of adult voices and tiny footsteps on the first flight of stairs.

"Aunty Lissa, Aunty Lissa! Can I show you the new move I learned at my class?" an small boy's excited shouts came up from the floor below.

I moved towards the door, imagining myself running down the stairs and seeing my beautiful son's face, and him instantly knowing who I was. It turns out I only had to get two feet out of the door before Lissa was running after me.

"Stop!" she yelled desperately as her hand slipped away from my elbow. I wouldn't let her stop me now. As if.

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><p><strong>So more things are happening now, I was getting worried that it was kinda boring. But I've got some drama lined up for the next chapters. <strong>

**And I've started thinking about how I want this story to end already :( I can promise a few more chapters though.**

**Review pleaseee, I love hearing your opinions, good or bad **


	14. Chapter 14

My deep brown hair with Adrian's vivid green eyes, an angular face, surprisingly so for such a young age and slightly tanned skin. The small boy came to just below my mid-thigh. He was adorable. _My son_ was adorable.

"Are you aunty Lissa's friend?" his sweet voice reached my eyes and I smiled through the tears that were slowly coming.

"Yes, Jason, she is," Lissa's voice spoke out from behind me but I didn't turn to look.

"Jason, why don't you go play outside with mom and Ellie?" a voice came from further behind Lissa's. I instantly recognised it and wished I didn't. Jason ran past me and Lissa and I turned to watch him run past Adrian and down the stairs, out of sight.

Once he'd gone, my eyes went to Adrian. His eyes met mine and he nodded up the stairs to the third floor. I brushed past Lissa as I followed him up. Lissa just stood there, looking sorry.

"I don't even know how to start this," Adrian said, running a hand through his hair as he leant against the hallway wall. I opted for sitting with my back against the huge window that looked over Court.

I jumped right in to talking. "How come it's taken so long for me to see him? I mean, what the fuck, Adrian? He's my _son_!"

"I know, I know! Can you just put yourself in my position for one second, though? Me and Sydney have had a stressful week as it was and we didn't need to worry about you being around Jason on top of that," I hated that his voice was getting louder as the frustration increased. It showed his emotions about all this because it was so soon into the conversation.

"What do you mean?" I said after a long pause.

"We don't even know if you're really a Dhampir yet, Rose. I wasn't going to risk Jason in that situation. I don't care if you're his biological mother, you might be a danger and that's the bottom line."

"That doctors declared me Dhampir!" I shouted.

He exhaled sharply. "That might be the case but I haven't heard the verdict you got at the hearing," he knew full well that it hadn't happened yet. Damn him and his stupid wit.

"Look at me! You can _see_ that I'm not Strigoi! In the last two weeks I haven't been violent in any way at all to another person and I've shown no Strigoi behaviours! So why haven't I seen Jason till now?"

"Fine, I'll just say it! I don't trust you, Rose. I don't trust what you've been for the past three years. I also don't want you coming in and messing around Jason's life. He's happy with me and Sydney. We've been one family for over a year now and he thinks of her as his mom. I hate to say this, but I don't want you taking that away from Sydney and telling him that you're his real mother."

Did he just say what I think he said?

"Are you kidding me?" I spat out, the volume of my voice going back down to normal level. I needed to be serious for this next bit. "Adrian, I am his real mother. Nothing you say or do, and nothing Sydney does, for that matter, will change that. I carried him for eight months, not Sydney. She might like to think she's his mother, but she's playing pretend and it's time for the games to stop now. I'm going to go downstairs and talk to my son. I might tell him that I'm his mom, I might not, that decision is mine."

I stormed past Adrian and down the stairs. I took the time to breathe deeply as I walked to calm myself down. It wouldn't do any good to be angry when I met Jason properly for the first time. As I walked past the kitchen to go outside, I saw Christian was home. He and Lissa were standing in the kitchen talking. When Lissa saw me she ran up to me.

"Rose, sweetie, I'm so sorry. Adrian made me promise not to say anything," she explained.

I nodded. "It's fine. I'm going to talk to Jason now. Could you give it a few minutes before coming to look?" it was her turn to nod. She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and let me walk out of the kitchen.

I walked through the hallway, through the lounge and out the patio doors. Sydney was sitting on the bench in the shade with her baby while Jason ran around trying to catch something like a butterfly. She looked up and saw me there. I wouldn't say the look she gave me was cold but I definitely wouldn't say it was friendly. It was more a look of warning.

I watched as she got up, said a quick word to Jason and walked back into the house. I didn't hear her footsteps go any further than the lounge so I assumed she wanted to stay and keep an eye on me and Jason. I took another deep breath and walked towards the small boy.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi," he stopped running and looked at me. I slowly walked over to him and crouched in front of him.

"My name is Rose."

"I'm Jason," he said proudly.

I smiled widely. "That's a nice name. Very manly."

He returned my smile at my comment. "Thanks."

"Can I tell you a secret, Jason?" I hadn't had much experience with kids so I was kind of just running with my instincts. He nodded eagerly. "Do you know who your mom is?"

"Yeah, she's right in there," he pointed into the lounge.

"Is she your real one?" I hated phrasing it that way but I was struggling to think of alternatives.

"My daddy says she isn't but that she should be. I love her like my mommy," my heart crushed a tiny bit.

"What would say if I told you I knew your real mom?"

His eyes lit up. "Do you?"

I nodded. "She's right in front of you," I whispered.

In hindsight, there were so many better ways to say it. As it was, he took it sort of ok. I watched as Jason's eyes widened. he stood stock still for a while before suddenly running into the house. I ran to the patio doors after him and watched as he went upstairs. I knew Adrian was still up there so I left them to it.

It hurt me that he ran away from me but I couldn't really expect much else. I did just thrust that information on him with no warning, right out of the blue.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, pushing it back.

"What did you say to him?" Sydney asked me from one of the armchairs.

I fixed her with an honest gaze, "I told him the truth. He's my son, I want him to know that."

She didn't reply and just turned back to the babbling baby laid between two cushions to stop it falling.

I began walking towards the door to pick up my coat from the hook but Lissa stopped me.

"Please, stay for dinner? I want to spend more time with you, I've missed you, you know," she pleaded at me with her eyes and I couldn't refuse.

"Fine," I agreed. "But if I want to leave straight after then you have to let me."

"No, we're going to be having after-dinner drinks. You can't say no," she knew me too well. "I'd ask you to stay, too, in our spare room, but I'm not sure what the situation's going to be like," I got her drift - she didn't want to push anything between me, Adrian, Sydney or Jason. Fair enough. "Now come on, fill me in on why my nephew just sprinted up the stairs."

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><p><strong>I know this was a short one, but I felt like it was a good place to finish the chapter. Thank you for all the reviews, they make me smile :)<strong>

**Just a reminder that I've been posting updates on my profile about when the next chapter is going to be started/uploaded, so if it's been a while then go check that out. School is getting really busy now and I'm really hoping to keep updating, but I don't know how much more work I'm going to be getting x**

**Oh I nearly forgot, 'Ellie' is just Eliza for short**


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